FusionFall
Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall is a massively multiplayer online game developed by Cartoon Network and Grigon Entertainment. FusionFall uses the Unity engine as its client technology basis. For the first year, the full game required a subscription; free accounts could only access a portion of the content. The game became free-to-play on April 19, 2010. Gameplay In FusionFall, the player takes control of a customized avatar. Their character is viewed from a third-person perspective with an overlaid HUD. The game has large playable environments, with travel facilitated by various warp points. Gameplay primarily focuses on the alliance between the heroes and villains of the Cartoon Network universe, featuring characters from Cartoon Network shows both past and present. Many characters are available as guides after players reach level four and they complete the game's tutorial. The four guides are Dexter, Ben Tennyson, Edd, and Mojo Jojo. Playing past level four originally required a monthly paid subscription in the form of redeemable cards that could be purchased at participating retailers, or online purchase from the FusionFall website. The cards were rendered obsolete after April 16, 2010, when the entirety of the game became free to play; players with unredeemed time cards were offered a refund for their unused cards. Beta Testing The open beta testing began on November 14, 2008, available to anyone with an account on Cartoon Network's website. It ended on November 16, 2008. A second beta began on December 5, 2008, and ended on December 7, 2008. The third took place during the weekend of December 12, 2008, with a single-day extension on December 19. A final beta test started on December 27, 2008, and ran until January 11, 2009. All characters created before December 22, 2008, including those of the FusionFall staff, were deleted, but all made on or after December 27, 2008, were carried onto the official release. Subscription When it was first released, FusionFall required a paid subscription for the full game, with a limited portion of the content available to free accounts. Free accounts could only play in the "future" portion of the game, which only allows players to collect four nanos and create two characters. The full game had a total of 36 nanos before the new additions. The game now has a more than 40 nanos. To create up to four characters, players had to earn all 36 nanos during the beta testing. Players with characters that progressed into the past during the sneak peek or during a previous subscription had their characters locked until a current subscription was purchased. Subscription plans included one-month, three-month, year-long, and family plans. The FusionFall Victory Pack Exclusive was made available for purchase when the game was released. It contained a four-month subscription, as well as a game guide, T-shirt (if bought from GameStop), and exclusive outfits and weapons for the player's character. The Victory Packs were eventually discontinued, having been replaced with one-month and three-month game card available for purchase at Target outlets. The game was made completely free on April 19, 2010, making all content of the game available for everyone. If a player paid for the game before April 19, they were rewarded with an exclusive in-game set, Clockwork set. The code for the Clockwork items is permanently available to anyone that had previously paid for the game. Manga A comic prequel, co-written by Matthew Schwartz and Megas XLR co-creator George Krstic, entitled FusionFall: Worlds Collide!!, was passed out during Comic Con '07. Due to the overwhelming success of the comic, George Krstic was in talks to write a script for a FusionFall feature based on the comic to accompany the game's launch. The manga is available on the official website for public viewing and in PDF format for download. It covers the events leading up to the start of the game. In-Game Events Occasionally on certain holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, FusionFall has a small in-game celebration that usually has a special code for a holiday item, holiday scenery, exclusive items, and missions carried by special guest appearances of future cast members or exclusive NPCs, such as the giant blowfish and V. V. Argost. Events for holidays stretch from 2 weeks to several months. Some roll directly from one to the other. Recently, such events have nearly ceased all together.